Namib Film and Magic Touch Films are proud to represent
Namibia and the Namibia Film Commission at FOCUS 2017, The Meeting Place
for International Production, to be held in London on 5/6 December 2017.

Namib Film, the longest running film production company in
Namibia, and our sister company Magic Touch Films will travel to the United
Kingdom for the third time
to represent Namibia at the most prestigious production location event in the
world. This forms part of our mission to showcase Namibia as a premier international
location destination, with world-class services and support.

What makes this year’s visit
even more special is the fact that our team will represent the Namibia Film Commission, truly turning the spotlight on our film industry.

FOCUS returns to London for its third edition, is the only
European audio-visual event to offer content aimed at all the creative screen
industries and it is the only UK event to bring in film commissions, locations
providers and production service companies from over 50 countries. Our Namibian
delegation led by Namib Film’s
Executive Producer Guy Nockels, will meet with various international
filmmakers, television producers and directors, reconnect with some who have
worked with our companies in the past, while showcasing our experience and
professionalism.

If you’d like
to schedule an appointment with Guy, or find out more about Namib Film, Magic
Touch Films or the Namibia Film Commission, pop our Executive Producer Guy Nockels a mail, head to our contact page, or
visit http://bit.ly/namibfocus and register as a delegate to use the #FOCUS Scheduler.

One company is helping the east meet the westDate: March 2017

While Chinese businesses visiting Namibia are
nothing new, Hunan Satellite TV, the second most-watched channel in China,
second only to CCTV-1 owned by China Central Television, recently concluded
filming parts of a reality television series in Namibia.

The
production, which first saw the team visit Namibia during a scouting trip for a
few days in December of last year, and now locations such as Harnass Wildlife
Foundation east of Gobabis and Deadvlei near Solitaire in the south of Namibia
as part of filming on location around the world including countries such as
Brazil, South Africa and Australia, wrapped filming locally in March.

The company
behind the production, Hunan Satellite TV, broadcasts to most China, the far
East and is viewable in North America and Europe, contacted Namibian production
and film company Namib Film to facilitated the scout and this year entrusted
them with the production that included over 150 celebrities and crew members,
with the celebrities accompanied by 8 dedicated crew members throughout the
project.

According to Mr Guy Nockels,
Executive Producer of Namib Film, throughout the very challenging production,
the visiting film crew had a chance to see the stunning scenery, enjoy the
amazing hotels and travel on the incredible road network which makes Namibia a
favourite film destination for European television stations and large Hollywood
studios.

He further added that China was
counted as having the most screens in the world in 2016, and at some stage the
nation had the third largest film industry by the sheer number of films
produced annually.

With this in mind, Namib Film sees
great potential in developing this new partnership with Hunan Satellite
Television and believes that once other Chinese filmmakers see what Namibia and
local film companies such as Namib Film and its sister company Magic Touch
Films has to offer, and hears of the professional services offered, there would
definitely be more productions moving in.

Namib Film and Magic Touch Films Represented Namibia in LondonDate: January 2017

With a host of
international film and commercial productions calling on Namibia as the
location of choice, local production companies Namib Film and Magic Touch Films
increased Namibia’s visibility as a top location when they attended the 2016
Focus International Location Production Event held in London from 6 – 7 December
2016.

The longest running production company, Namib Film and its
sister company Magic Touch Films proudly represented Namibia at the most prestigious
production location event in the world as part of their mission to build
Namibia’s reputation as a premier location destination.

Attended by all major international production companies and
studios, the event is billed as a core meeting place for international
production and showcased locations from around the world, while giving
producers and directors an opportunity to meet the representatives from local
production facilitators.

With an excellent service offering and past projects
including Mad Max, Flight of the Phoenix (Namib Film), the Namibian filming of ITV’s
Marooned with Ed Stafford and reality TV show Naked and Afraid (Magic Touch
Films), the production companies met top international filmmakers at their
stand.

Speaking from London, Mr Guy Nockels, Executive Producer and
CEO of Imwe Namibia Holdings, the holding company of the two Namibian production
companies, as well as Equipment List Rentals and Desert Ace Charters and Tours,
said that attending Focus 2016 was an ideal opportunity not to be missed.

“It gave us a chance to personally meet with various international
filmmakers, television producers and directors, and to reconnect with some who
have worked with us in the past. We could also showcase our experience and
professionalism, while turning the spotlight on Namibia,” he said.

The second year of attending Focus 2016, Mr Nockels believes
that they helped bridge the gap between Namibia and international filmmakers.
He says that Namibia is rich in production experience and infrastructure, and
if combined with the local knowledge available, can cater for productions of
any magnitude.

In his view, large Hollywood productions, like the Mummy recently
filmed in Namibia, helps to put Namibia on the map, but it’s still up to local
houses to further show the world of movie making that we aren’t just a pretty
desert location and can provide film, commercial, stills and television
productions the whole package, from spectacular locations to professional and
experiences production service and support.

For this reason Namib Film and Magic Touch Films enjoyed
attending the 2016 International Location Production Event presented by The
Location Guide.

How to keep your set safe whilst filming in NamibiaDate: September 2016

Namib Films' Executive Director Guy Nockels shares his
thoughts on why safety is always the top priority on set.

In our industry and experience, most productions run
smoothly and apart from a few splinters or a sunburn here and there, when the
footage is in the can, crews leave with a smile on their faces.
As the saying goes, one should always prepare for the worst
and expect the best. Even more so when a certain degree of danger is expected.

When it comes to international productions in Namibia, one
could say that it’s even more important than ever to make sure that provision
is made for trained medics in the budget. We don’t say this because Namibian
productions shouldn’t worry about it, but because these big productions employ
large crews, usually have more intense scenes and if something should go wrong,
this could have a very negative impact on our local industry.

Linette Booysen of Movie Medics Namibia, whom we use
regularly for productions facilitated by our own production companies, recently
commented on a social media post we made regarding health professionals and
medics working on film sets in Namibia:

“… Just to touch on the matter raised by Magic Touch Films, kindly be
informed that according to the Allied Health Professions Act 2004 (Act No.7 of
2004), Section 18 (1), ‘No person is entitled to practice within Namibia a
register-able Health profession, unless that person is registered in terms of
this Act’.”

She also continued by saying that “the public is urged to report to the Police or the Health
Professions Council of Namibia persons who in their opinion are practicing any
related professions without being registered with any relevant Council for
prosecution in terms relevant sections of the Acts.”

What made us bring this up?

A few months ago one of our teams
went to Botswana on a production and was quite surprised to learn how strictly
that country enforces a similar law, i.e. if you’re not registered as a medical
professional – you don’t work as one!

It made us think (and wonder)
whether production companies facilitating in Namibia or international crews
actually know the rules of the game when it comes to medics and health
professionals on set!

We can only hope so and use this
opportunity to educate instead of berate. After all, on the day that something
does go horribly wrong on set (that prepare for the worst part of the saying)
no producer or company should be in a position to explain why they were
operating outside the law.

Date: December 2015

Namib Film will be exhibiting at the FOCUS film location and production event – the first of its kind to be hosted in the United Kingdom. This prestigious film event will be hosted by The Location Guide on the 14th and 15th of December at the Business and Design Centre in Islington, London. Door will open at 10am and will close to the public at 5pm, so feel free to come and visit the Namib Film team at Stand 30, to see what Namibia has to offer as a filming destination. Namib Film’s Chief Operating Officer, Gwen Swart, will also be in London from the 16th till 18th of December, and will be available for meetings if you cannot attend the FOCUS event. Please contact her on her email address gwen@namibfilms.com to schedule a meeting. Namib Film is looking forward to meet you!

Date: October 2015

Namib Film & the Imwe Namibia Holdings had fun filled day on the 08th of October with the children of the Sunshine Centre Walvis Bay and the team of SPCA Walvis Bay.

The children were educated by the kennel master, Bernice Grobler, on the correct manner in which they must look after their pets. Each of the learners enjoyed Bernice's talk thoroughly, and could not get enough of the beautiful cats and friendly dogs they had the opportunity to interact with.

Some strong bonds were formed on the day between the children and animals. We also were graced by the presence of Namibia's own Paralympic gold medal winner and superstar athlete, Johanna Benson.

Thank you to the SPCA Walvis Bay for making this day possible, and to the Sunshine Centre for giving us the opportunity to arrange this education trip for the learners.